Trout Stolen From Lake -- Kids' Fishing Ruined

Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Monday, October 5, 1998

1998-10-05 04:00:00 PDT SANTA ROSA -- A fishing program for children turned sour this weekend when thieves crept in at night and snatched up to 1,200 rainbow trout waiting in a holding net in Santa Rosa's Lake Ralphine.

The fish heist was discovered Saturday as 100 giddy children involved in the State Department of Fish and Game's "Fishing in the City" program arrived at the lake in Howarth Memorial Park with donated poles and tackle boxes.

Instead of a 350-foot-long enclosure teeming with big, hungry planted trout, however, the kids found an empty net.

"Whoever did this," said Bob Aldrich, a Fish and Game investigator, "is somebody pretty low on the food chain."

LATEST SFGATE VIDEOS

Aldrich said the program, co- sponsored by the city of Santa Rosa and the chamber of commerce, is designed for inner-city and disadvantaged youth. It has been held two times a year for several years.

He said the one- and two-pound trout had been purchased from the Mount Lassen Trout Farm for $2,300 and were placed in the weighted net enclosure Thursday, about 40 feet from shore. The plan was to let the kids, and anyone else who was interested, fish in the enclosure between 8 a.m. and noon on Saturday and Sunday.

"The idea was to give the kids the best chance possible of catching fish," Aldrich said. "For many, it would have been the first time in their lives they caught a fish."

The fish-nappers, apparently alerted by the advance publicity, sneaked into the park sometime late Friday or early Saturday, dragged the net to the shoreline and plucked as many of the squirming fish as they could carry out of the water. Aldrich said a few trout apparently escaped into the lake. The raiders then pulled the net about 15 feet into the lake in an attempt to cover up their dastardly deed, Aldrich said.

Fish and Game investigators and Santa Rosa police have interviewed several homeless people who sleep in the park, but no witnesses have stepped forward. They are offering up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the culprits.

Aldrich said it is possible the raid was an attempt to save the fish and release them elsewhere, but it is more likely they are being sold on the black market. Whoever took them, he said, is sure to have a difficult time.

Most supermarkets have their own suppliers, according to Aldrich, and there are not many outfits that would purchase so many fish at once. He said the big rainbows would have to be put on ice and sold from the back of a truck.

Meanwhile, the young anglers were left to skulk around the lake, dangling hooks in the water, hoping against hope for a nibble.

"They tried to fish," Aldrich said, "but most of them didn't catch anything."

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.